Sometimes Winning Doesn’t Always Look Like Winning🥇🍾❔

Published: Wed, 09/17/25

Updated: Wed, 09/17/25

Winning Doesn't Always Look Like Victory.

– Anonymous

Winning at life is never as clear-cut as we are led to believe. If your motivations are purely the medals, applause, or money in the bank, then my friend, you will invariably be disappointed. Sometimes winning looks like walking away. Sometimes it’s choosing rest over the grind. Sometimes it’s finally caring less about things that never mattered in the first place.
The problem is, we rarely recognise victory when it’s ours. We think success must come with trumpets, fanfare, and fireworks. But in truth? Winning often shows up as something quieter, less dramatic—but more powerful.

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Sometimes You have to Lose, So You Can Win.

I know this because I’ve spent much of my life chasing the loud kind of victories. Back then what was important to me were the book launches, glowing reviews, recognition in spaces that didn’t always welcome a Jamaican speculative fiction author. But on reflection it has always been the process of creation that gave me the most satisfaction. And those moments weren't loud at all. They were the discoveries, the subtle shifts—walking away from paths that drained me, building discipline one page at a time, or learning to stop performing for validation and start writing for myself.

That’s when I realised: you’re probably doing better than you think.

🛸 Alien Arrival in the Motherland: A First Contact Challenge 🛸

They didn’t land in New York. Or Beijing. Or Geneva.
They landed in Abuja.

And the world watched Africa take the lead.

✍🏽 The Prompt:

It’s the year 2125.
A sleek, pulsing craft breaches Earth’s atmosphere, gliding over the Sahara and settling in the heart of West Africa. The world holds its breath. But there is no panic. No chaos. Africa has prepared. This isn’t our first anomaly. It’s just the first that said hello.

Your mission:
Write the first 250 words of the “Welcome Protocol”—the official or unofficial interaction between Earth’s African representatives and the alien visitors.

This could be:

A speech from the Pan-African Space Alliance

A whispered prayer by an elder witnessing the event

A child's voice broadcasting peace in 300 languages

A hacktivist overriding global comms to make first contact

A village oracle stepping forward with eerie familiarity...

🎨 Bonus Visual Submission (Optional but Powerful):

Create a concept art piece (AI-generated, hand-drawn, or digital) of the aliens’ first interaction with African technology, culture, or society.
Think:

An alien hovering above a solar-powered yam market

A Maasai tech-shaman reaching into the alien’s neural field

Alien tendrils touch ancestral beads that begin to glow.

🌍 Afrofuturist Angle:

Africa isn’t a backdrop.
Africa leads.
The cultural protocols, the technology, the worldview—all informed by centuries of myth, struggle, genius, and innovation.

🧠 Judging Criteria:

Originality: How unique and grounded is your First Contact moment?

Afrofuturist Imagination: Does it celebrate Africa's vision of the future?

Cultural Nuance: Does it feel authentically Pan-African in tone, belief, or tradition?

Visual Impact (for art entries): Is your piece cinematic, symbolic, or hauntingly beautiful?

🏆 Prizes:

🥇 First Place: $50 gift card + newsletter feature + pro audio performance of your story

🥈 Second Place: $25 gift card + newsletter feature

🥉 Third Place: $10 gift card + honourable mention

Select visuals will be showcased in a "First Contact Gallery" inside the Urban Fantastic World Compendium (digital + printed).

📅 Deadline: 12th October 2025

📬 Submit to: Marksmanstudios1@gmail.com

Subject Line: "Alien Arrival Challenge Submission"

Attach your story (PDF or body of email) and image (PNG/JPG, max 5MB).

👽 The moment has arrived. They’ve chosen us first.
Now speak for Earth—or for yourself.
Welcome them to the birthplace of mankind.

The Quiet Victories that Count

Most of us underestimate the ways we’ve grown because growth doesn’t always look like progress. It doesn’t look like a new car, a promotion, or a viral moment. It often looks like decisions nobody else claps for.

It looks like learning to say no without guilt.

It looks like valuing your time enough not to give it away cheaply.

It looks like dropping the need for validation and finding joy without witnesses.

That’s not failure. That’s growth.

We live in a culture that worships struggle. The grind. The 80-hour workweek. The “look how much I can endure” badge of honour. But you don’t need to bleed to prove you’re moving forward. Some suffering is required, but it’s not the goal—it’s smarter choices, a deeper presence, and better results. That’s what makes life richer.

When you decide not to glorify struggle - it’s just a part of the process, you’re already ahead.

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Changing Your Mind is not a Weakness

Consistency is important, and for achievement, it’s one of the highest virtues. But because you made a choice doesn’t mean you’re obligated to defend it forever. Only with wisdom and experience will you know if it’s right for you. And if it’s not, then stubbornness is not a strength.

Changing your mind is.

Every time you learn something new, you get permission to make a different choice. That’s not flakiness—that’s evolution. I’ve walked away from careers, opinions, even friendships that no longer fit. And while it hurt, every pivot gave me a truer sense of who I was becoming.

You’re doing better than you think if you can change course without shame.

The Courage to not know

We live in a time when everyone wants to look certain, even when they aren’t. Social media makes experts out of amateurs, and people cling to fake authority just to seem relevant. But the phrase that carries the most freedom, and the most wisdom, is simple: “I don’t know.”

It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you trustworthy.

“I don’t know” means you’ve left the door open to learn. It means you’re not faking authority you don’t have. It means curiosity, humility, and growth are still alive in you.

That’s winning too.

Redefining Success

A truly victorious life starts with what you conquer inside yourself. The ability to quiet the need for validation. The discipline to own your time. The courage to change your mind. The clarity to rest when needed. The honesty to say, “I don’t know.”

These aren’t dramatic victories. They won’t trend online. But they build a life that feels free, grounded, and yours.

If you’re doing any of these things, Gentle Reader — if you’re even moving in that direction—trust me: you’re doing better than you think.

So pause. Breathe. Look back at how far you’ve come, not how far you’ve still got to go.

The scoreboard of life doesn’t belong to the world. It belongs to you.

And by that measure? You’re already winning.

Peace, love and power.